Rubber duckies from China seized at LA ports were hazardous to children

LOS ANGELES - They arrived from China dressed as Santa, Snowman, Gingerbread man, Reindeer and Penguin -- all 35,712 -- but their cuteness couldn't get them by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and import specialists at the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex.

Working with U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) compliance investigators, CBP officials seized the holiday ducks Tuesday after determining the toys, with a domestic value of $18,522, contained a regulated phthalate in excess of the limit which may be harmful to the health and safety of children.

Phthalates are a group of chemicals (oily, colorless liquids) that are used to make vinyl and other plastics soft and flexible. CPSC regulation prohibits the sale, distribution or importation into the United States of any children's toy or child care article that contains concentrations of more than 0.1 percent of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), or benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP).

Over the past four years, CPSC and CBP have stopped more than 8.5 million units of about 2,400 different toys and children's products due to safety hazards or the failure to meet federal safety standards.